The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: WildWelshShepherdess on January 18, 2014, 08:11:18 pm
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Over the period of a month,
We've had a Ram stolen in broad day light, plus an in lamb ewe carrying twins shot and skinned in the field!!!
Attached is a photo of the North Country Cheviot Ram that's missing believed to have been taken to breed from rather than to cull.. but who knows!!!!
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that's just awful. :(
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what's making it more suspicious is that yesterday morning after we took my lil one to school i came back to find wool spread across the road cut up into inch long strands!!
So it has to be someone local!!
And as for the ewe.. that had to be done by someone professional, the neatness of the job etc.
Hopefully they will choke on the meat or has severe stomach cramps as she was only treated with Dectomax 3 weeks prior.
Police, farmers weekly etc. have all been informed, just trying to do our very best to find the Ram although i don't see much hope of him coming back!! :-[
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That is just dreadful!
We always keep all gates locked but that wouldn't have stopped what happened to your ewe. So sorry Katy
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Murdering Ba.......rds so sorry to hear that Katy. :rant: lts happening so frequent now. We are going to put up CCTV and make everyone aware of the fact as a deterrent
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Murdering Ba.......rds so sorry to hear that Katy. :rant: lts happening so frequent now. We are going to put up CCTV and make everyone aware of the fact as a deterrent
We've put some up around various fields and sheds etc.
Thats the sad thing about it, a friend of mine had a cattle box full of sheep missing around the same time our ewe was shot!!
Sadly the police didn't want to know with us until we mentioned the ewe had been injected with Dectomax so was a threat if someone bought meat "out the back of the van".
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As if things aren't hard enough!! Not sure if said person knew what they were doing if ewe in lamb. How far off was she? Was the ram tagged and tattooed? I think tattoos a bit safer, however if they want it enough......so sorry.
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I'm so sorry. The Police here are taking it a lot more seriously so I should be thankful.
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Tell me about it tattycat
The way the ewe was skinned and had her meat taken off her suggests its someone thats been trained as a butcher etc.
although there we're hogg's in the same field.. i know which one i would've chosen if i wanted meat.
They even took the guts and the lambs etc..
Only left her skeleton and skin, even her ears we're cut off and taken.
She was due to lamb at the end of this month.
Happened a field away from the house too which is what's shook us up a fair bit!!
Yes he was tagged and also has a bolus in him and has a massive rip in his right ear which makes him easily identifiable, he's so well known down and around this way on the show circuit that if he's seen someone will recognise him straight away..
That's one good thing at least Bramblecot, what worries us is that their brave enough to do it a field away from the house etc.. and the police don't really care.
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That's so horrible :(
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Nothing is safe these days. You think the fact that someone shot her would be enough to have the police worried.
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It may be work contacting your local papers to do a report on it. Keep you chin up.
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Where exactly are you, Katy? Do you want us to circulate the info?
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Hello Liz,
We're based in Carmarthen..
I've got the local newspaper involved and the pembrokeshire farmer as well as the farmers weekly!!
Its more to make people aware of te fact its happening and to report it etc.
But i wont say no to more publicity.. :)
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That's horrible. My daughter spotted a pile of fresh pluck (guts) from about nine sheep hidden in the wood at the side of our land last Spring. It's not fenced and the tyre marks showed a van had backed in and dumped it. A few days later the same sort of thing was found in a wood a few miles away - clearly a professional butchery job. The Police had a look, and so did the foxes, which demolished the lot after five days.
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That is very worrying - you and Bramblecot both.
I'm starting to think that my hard-to-access land may be a blessing now.
I'll keep my :fc: for your Ram, but...
marcus
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Of course, the fresh pluck and guts might just be from someone doing home slaughter and too tight to pay the knackerman to remove it all. Ours gets collected by the knackery once I've bagged it up.
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how bizarre that they would do that in your field. must have took a wee while. i imagine it would be a bit of a shock for you to find the remains :bouquet:
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Thats awful I'd be gutted if I'd have found that x
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Sickening :-( :bouquet:
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Have you found the bullet hole in the ewe?
The thought that ALL her inards and lambs were taken, but not the skin - could it have been dogs that ate her? After all if someone takes away the meat incl inards and ear tags they would take the fleece/skin too? And why butcher in the field - much safer shoot and carry off? Butcher in your shed?
Just seems something doesn't add up...
Why take a ram NOW - tupping is all done now?
Still not very nice thing to happen...
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I'm skeptical with Anke - though just as thoughtful in condolences around your situation. Its very sad :(
Does eems a bit of a coincidence that both happened at the same time - but coincidence happens, hence the origination of the word coincidence.
Obviously without seeing nought - I cant really make many assumptions - but its possible that another animal came and ate the inards, ears, other soft 'material' and left the skins and all.
I would not have thought anyone wanting to commit a crime like taking meat off the boones of an animal would have done it in the field and left the rest - though its all guesswork from my end?
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Plus although not 'ramming' time - tis the time of year for getting wonderers? Still a few eweys out there for the rammies to smell out. Tis late - but its still that half of the year?
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Hello,
There was foot prints from where the ram was taken.
As for the ewe the skin has a clear bullet hole in it with both the police and local huntsman who also works in an abattoir confirming she had been shot and skinned... It was such a professional job that he even said to keep the skin and use it as a rug!! i shall try and upload the picture later its not letting me atm.
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how bizarre that they would do that in your field. must have took a wee while. i imagine it would be a bit of a shock for you to find the remains :bouquet:
I'd never sorted out anything bigger than a big hare till I shot & prepped a goat.
It took me about 6 minutes to unzip & gut a large merino goat which was a bit bigger than a sheep . That time also included removing the head still inside the jacket and rolling it up . The guts were used for sausage skins so dropped into a big plastic bag and carried away for processing later on .
There was less than a pint of blood on the ground where I'd bled him by slicing in through his heart ,. it wasn't messy in the slightest.
He was is suspended from tree , so using a length of 3x3 wood placed across the back door & roof of a transit type van with rope & using a couple of bits of 10 mm board as the carcass/leg spreaders would make it much easier .
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the ewe was skinned and had her meat taken off her
Only left her skeleton and skin, even her ears we're cut off and taken.
taking the meat off the bone in the field would take a while surely? unless you are a pro and have proper knifes. i butchered a pig and broke a few domestic knifes just doing that. proper knives are alot quicker. leaving the bones behind is odd i think.
anyone following the eastenders storyline of the dogmeat? i wasnt sure what animal that carcus was they had.
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I can't help but wonder if the ewe was eaten by something as only the bones and skin would be left behind then too. If someone wanted to sell the meat, bone-in would fetch more money due to the weight.... plus bone-in has more flavour. Also would make more sense to take a young lamb and not an old ewe.
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Thanks cloddopper, interesting.
I hope its not all due to foulplay and if it is, they are caught.